1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hood stay apparatus for an engine room in heavy construction equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved hood stay apparatus for an engine room in heavy construction equipment, which can safely keep an engine hood in an open state even if an external force is abruptly generated due to vibration, wind, and the like, and can facilitate the closing operation of the engine hood.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a general engine hood stay apparatus in a conventional heavy construction equipment, such as an excavator, a wheel loader, and the like, includes a rod guide 8 installed in the interior of a hood 1, a hood hinge 2, and a hood frame 3 to form a specified guide rail extending from a front side 3a of the hood to a rear side 3b of the hood, the rod guide 8 having a catch groove 8a provided in a rear rail catch part; a stay rod 5 pivotably installed in the interior of the hood frame 3 and having a rod guide 8 and a hinge part 7 provided at both ends of the stay rod 5; and a hinge bracket 4 formed on one side of the hood 1 to pivotably fix the hinge part 7 provided at one end of the stay rod 5; wherein, in the case of opening the hood, a sliding part 6 of the stay rod 5 is inserted into the catch groove 8a of the rod guide 8 and the hood 1 is kept in an inclined state at a specified angle, while in the case of closing the hood, the caught stay rod 5 is manually pulled to the front side 3a of the hood and the sliding part 6 is moved along the guide rail of the rod guide 8 to open/close the hood.
If an external force is generated due to vibration of the equipment, wind, and the like, in a typical process of repairing the interior of the engine room, the sliding part of the stay rod may easily secede from the catch groove of the guide rod due to the shaking of the hood in an inclined state, and thus the hood may be dropped at a moment an operator cannot expect to cause a safety accident to the operator and damage of component parts.
In order to solve this problem, there have been attempts to increase the resistant performance against an external force by lowering the inclination of the stay rod through separate forming of a stepped incline on a guide surface of the rod guide or addition of a folding connection part to the center point of the stay rod. However, this requires a strengthened hood frame or a complicated structure, and thus the manufacturing efficiency is lowered or the manufacturing cost is increased.